Anyone who saw Sam Peckinpah‘s 1971 cult classic Straw Dogs can admit that the film’s poster was just as effective as the movie itself. Eerie and unsettling, featuring only a zoomed in look at Dustin Hoffman‘s deadpan stare with the broken lens of his glasses. It almost sums up the movie too well. Well, a remake is coming out this fall that’s directed by Rod Lurie and stars James Marsden who replaces Hoffman as the well-mannered gentleman who is pushed to the edge by locals hell bent on ruining his life.
The film’s official poster has debuted and it bares resemblance to the original, although it adds two unnecessary elements that detract from the edgy tone of its predecessor’s. One would obviously be the overbearing red lettering of the movie’s tag line (dumb), and the other is the addition of Marsden’s nemesis in his glasses reflection (why?). Nonetheless, it’s a valuable effort and hopefully the remake is slightly more faithful to the original than the poster is. You can check out the original poster below and the remake’s poster above and determine for yourself what you think.
